Mixing Cookies with Concrete Leads to More Sales

Vernal Jeppson, promotion engineer with the Utah Cement Shippers Association, has an inexpensive and effective marketing technique to promote concrete parking lots, intersections and pavements for his company: he buys lunch for prospective customers. He claims that his box-lunch seminars have resulted in more cement sold, more concrete on the ground, and more projects built than any other promotion he has used.
He collects the names of bidders for projects that could benefit from concrete, calls them up, and asks them to consider concrete for their needs. In order to discuss how concrete will save the client money, he invites them and their staff to lunch, and points out the advantages of concrete for their project. Jeppson says it is a good idea to involve contractors with the box-lunch seminars because they add credibility and can answer questions about cost, materials and construction.
Jeppson concludes, "We have had excellent success with box-lunch seminars in Utah. They are relatively inexpensive for the projects they produce, and we all have fun and learn about concrete. If your organization isn't currently involved in sponsoring box-lunch seminars, you ought to consider giving them a try."